Tag Archives: splits

Training split considerations for optimal frequency base don how many days you can train per week.

Did you know that it is considered optional that you train a movement/muscle every 3-5 days. Of course this is for most average people, if you get someone who is godly strong then the rules change.

Here is a guide for the kind of strength levels to look out for based on the classic big 3 lifts.

If you can Squat 5 plates, Bench 4 & Deadlift 6, then you can probably look at a training frequency of hitting each movement every 5-7 days.

If you can’t hit those numbers ten every 3-5 is more than likely better for you.

Okay, the split considerations.

2 days per week –

Full Body for most people.

If your crazy strong then a Push/Pull split will do you well.

3 days per week –

– Full Body

– Upper/Lower

– Push/Pull

Crazy strong = Pull/Push/Legs

4 Days per week –

– Full Body

– Upper/Lower

– Push/Pull

– PPL

Crazy Strong = Pull, Push, Legs, Push & Pull

When you start to get in to the realms of 5-6days a week training you’ll find that a Pull-Push-Legs or Upper/Lower split works well for most people. The Crazy Strong ones may have heavy & light days, however you’ll often find that people of that level of strength train 3-4 days per week on average as the amount of stress they are placing on their body demands a lot of recovery.

Give most of us have real lives and jobs many are looking at 2-4 days in the gym per week, as such Full body or Push/Pull would be my go to recommendations.

If you plan a full body routine think about these movement patterns:

Loaded Carry, Squat, Hinge, Pull, Push – use a different movement for each of these every session, for example, 3 days a week would have three pushes – Incline Press, Close Grip Bench & Overhead Press for example, you get the idea.

A push/pull split is easy to program, think about it in terms of squat, presses for push, and deadlift, rows etc for pull, stick with that philosophy and you won’t go far wrong.

Before we go I have a quick thing for you to think about, have a solid strength related goal in mind as this will help you actually make some progress in the gym.

A classic is this:

Press one plate, bench two plates, squat three, deadlift four, this is for most chaps, ladies can match this or perhaps aim for 3/4’s, it’s all about what you want at the end of the day.

To most people this will be enough strength for them to live a good life and with the proper nutritional protocol love pretty decent as well.

^^ A sentence many a man has said over the years and continues to say to this day.

“I want to be lean and strong”

^^ Something I’m pleased to announce more women are saying, it seems there has been a shift in them saying ‘I just want to be skinny’ to now learning the benefit of being lean and strong, it’s great to see.

While it is only my opinion, I feel everybody should be strong.

I’m not talking about record breaking strong, just strong enough to stay healthy and stave off the effects of ageing on the body.

These sports all centre around lifting:

– Weightlifting (olympic lifting)

– Body Building

– Powerlifting

– Strongman

– CrossFit (some may not like this one)

Did you know lifting weights can have the following positive effects on the body:

Personally I’d say the mental improvement is the pivotal one as this can have the biggest impact on a persons life in a very positive way.

However….

If you’re not an athlete and lift for health/confidence you should do it because you enjoy it, not because you feel you have to, that’s the secret to balance and long term sustainability.

Don’t eat yourself up if you miss a session, chalk it up to life and sue it as a rest day, that way you’ll be more motivated when you get to go in, excited to train in fact. Keep this in mind and you’ll find you don’t fall out of love with training.

What if lifting isn’t for you?

That’s cool, find soothing you do enjoy, here are some other options for improving strength and all achieving all the other benefits mentioned above:

A lot of people use the term ‘split training’ but it doesn’t mean hat they think it means, or at least in the context of the way they set up their training. Obviously plenty of you know how splits are meant to be applied, however some don’t so it makes it a god topic of conversation.

Did you know that optimally you’ll hit each muscle group or movement every 3-5 days (so 2-3x per week).

For example, if someone says to me that they’re doing a 5 day split, my mind will come up with one of these options, logical:

Day 1 – Chest/Back

Day 2 – Legs/Abs

Day 3 – Off

Day 4 – Shoulders/Back

Day 5 – Off

Day 6 – Repeat day 1 to start 5 day split again.

Or perhaps

Day 1 – Chest/Back

Day 2 – Legs – Quad focus

Day 3 – Shoulders/back

Day 4 – Legs – Hamstring Focus

Day 5 – Off

Day 6 – Repeat day 1 to start 5 day split again.

Here is what most people mean:

Day 1 – Chest

Day 2 – Back

Day 3 – Legs, maybe

Day 4 – Shoulders

Day 5 – Arms

Day 6 – Off

Day 7 – Off

Repeat bro split, for additional results starting sipping at the tren bottle, it’s the flavour of the month.

As you can see what they actually do is a 7day split, as the routine repeat every 7 days, where as the 5 day split examples above repeat every 5, thus allowing for more frequency of training, the whole idea of splits.

You also find Upper/Lower Splits also run over a typical 7day split, they usually look like this:

Day 1 – Upper

Day 2 – Lower

Day 3 – Off

Day 4 – Upper

Day 5 – Lower

Day 6 – Off

Day 7 – Off

Or

Day 1 – Upper

Day 2 – Lower

Day 3 – Off

Day 4 – Upper

Day 5 – Off

Day 6 – Lower

Day 7 – Off

Make sense?

You have a lot of different training splits ranging from Full Body to Pull-Push-Legs, Push-Pull- Events or just a simple Push-Pull and so on. Them main take home from this this post is what the premise behind a ‘split’ actually is in terms of increasing the frequency of your lifts.